What Makes Some Butters Yellow And Others More Pale?

There is one thing that unites both the best and worst brands of butter: the color yellow. When given a box of crayons and a coloring page with a stick of butter on it, many children will demonstrate that yellow is truly the only colorful contender. Still, you may have noticed that different types of butter will have different degrees of intensity as far as yellow is concerned. Wondering "What makes some butters yellow and others more pale?" is the natural next step. Thankfully, we have the answers you seek.

Just as the green of plants is due to a compound called chlorophyll, the yellow of butter is caused by a compound of its own: carotene. While there are a handful of fat-soluble pigments that influence the color of butter, carotene is the star of the show that brings most of the hue to this fat. This compound has many different forms, but the type known as beta-carotene is the most responsible for the yellow hue of butter.

While you shouldn't judge salmon's quality by its color, the color of butter is worth considering, since it can provide insights into the diets of the cows who produced it. When the butter is relatively pale, the cow was likely fed dry feed with less carotene, like grains. Yellower butter, on the other hand, is produced by cows living off natural and nutritious feed, such as grass.

This all means that there is more carotene in the milk of cows that have a carotene-rich diet. This compound provides a yellow pigment in the fats of animals. So, it makes sense that butter, which is composed mostly of fat, will have a stronger yellow pigment if there is more carotene present in a cow's diet.

Butter is not the only place in your fridge where carotene can come into play. Besides giving butter pale yellow to yellow-orange hues, this compound is also found in egg yolks. That color also related to how the egg-producing chickens are fed (again, more carotene in the feed produces a yellower product) and is a point of discussion over differences between orange and yellow egg yolk.